What Is The Scientific Name Of Nilgai? (ANSWER)

What Is The Scientific Name Of Nilgai? (ANSWER)

SCIENTIFIC NAMME OF NILGAI – In this topic, we are going to know and identify the binomial or scientific name of nilgai.

SCIENTIFIC NAME OF NILGAI
Image from: Wikipedia

Also known as blue bull, it is known as the largest Asian antelope which is omnipresent across the northern Indian subcontinent.

Its name came from the combination of two Hindi words nil, which means “blue“, and gai, which means “cow“.

This species stands at 1 to 1,5 metres or 3.3 to 4.9 feet at the shoulder. It is characterized by a sloping back, a deep neck with a white patch located on the throat, a short crest of hair along the neck, and white facial spots.

It is listed as the least concern in the IUCN Red List. Furthermore, the nilgai is mainly active during the day or diurnal. As a group, they band together in three distinct kinds:

  • One or two females with young calves
  • three to six adult and yearling females with calves
  • an all-male group with two to 18 members

Scientific name

The binomial name of nilgai is Boselaphus tragocamelus.

Boselaphus is a genus in the cow family Bovidae, in which this species is its only member. It is a combination of the Latin terms bos, which means “cow” or “ox”, and elaphos, which means “deer”.

The species name tragocamelus, on the other hand, is a combination of two Greek words tragos, which means “he-goat” and kamelos which means “camel”.

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